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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 2109.PDF
DECEMBER IITH, 1947 FLIGHT 659 landings included the Instrument Landing System, which could notbe considered as a final solution since the path was quite badly distorted by ground and buildings at some airfields. It was notinstalled in any British aircraft, nor in any aircraft operating on the European routes, and it was unlikely to be brought into general'use for three or four years As a palliative the Standard Beam Approach System was being used in B.E.A. Only constant practiceby the operating crews could ensure regularity using such blind- approach systems, which meant that all approaches in good or badweather should be made by instrumental means. That, then, said Mr. Rowe, was a matter for operators in training their crews. There was, however, a prospect of solving the problem of regularoperation in low visibility providing the final landing manoeuvre could be made visually He suggested that the objective of researchand experiment should be to modify the condition by artificial aids to make possible a visual landing.FIDO was expensive, and there was little prospect of introducing it as an aid at all airports. Experiments were going on in high-intensity lighting with some success, and there was a reasonable prospect that a system of high-intensity approach and runwaylighting being developed by the R.A.E. would provide an answer in all but the thickest fog For marshalling aircraft on the airfield,Radar devices would in due course be used, combined probably with high-intensity lighting on taxi tracks in the same way as G.C.A.might be used to monitor.a landing using high-intensity lighting. In his view, Mr. Rowe said, dense fog would always slow up opera-tions, although devices might be developed which would obviate cancellations, aircraft would then have reached much the samestage as trains and ships have at the present time. The need to ensure first-class maintenance on the score of safetyand economy was so overwhelming that it was unlikely to be a factor for reliability so far as the situation was within the controloi the operator. Shortage of spares in the present difficult circum- stances, however, often caused unreliability and irregularity. Aircraft Flying Qualities Scheduled movements in poor weather conditions taxed to thelimit the Controllers and the equipment. Sir. Rowe assured his audience, and missed landings or unpunctual arrivals created aqueue of aircraft in the air. It was then that the flying qualities of the aircraft and the standard of navigation were so important.The designer must consider stability and control, particularly at low cruising speed, in manual and automatic flying conditions.Good flyijg qualities and good layout of controls minimized fatigue, and hence design could make a real contribution to the solutionof the problem of reliability.--Whereas no one denied that -safety was essential, Mr. Rowe pointed out that safety was not absolutein an engineering sense. The problem was to ensure the highest standards of safety as economically as possible, but that require-ment had wide repercussions. For example, in design the major responsibility, he said, rested with the designer, but the operatormust be consulted in order to comply with the requisite standards and to simplify pilot and crew training. He thought that air traffic control was a good example of theproblem he had is mind under the term " safety with economy." Within the primary subject of safety the system of air trafficcontrol must be so developed as to achieve maximum utilization at airports, maximum economy of aircraft, and the best - economicbalance between weight complexity and cost of equipment to be employed in the aircraft and on the ground, taking into accounttraining and maintenance related to airborne and ground equipment. Mr Rowe thought there was a dangei of accepting as inevitablea form of control which was rigid within an extended zone around busy airports. It was abundantly clear, he said, that we couldnot tolerate a stacking system of control with jet propulsion. In the case of jet-propelled aircraft, the cost in fuel of 1.5 minutes RELIABILITY ! I SAFETY WITH ECONOMY AIRCRAFT CREW DESIGNER Flying qualities Maintain- ability Installation of equipment Performance EN ROUTE FACILITIES PORAIRPORT OPERATOR Layout of aircraft Standards of trainingI Standards ofoperation Scheduling NATIONAL AUTHORITIES En route Navigational aids Met.Information Ground aids for approach and landing De-icing of engine and airframe Maintenance Communications Air Traffic Control Scheduling movements (Operators) LATICREGULATION AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL Research into meat economical method AIRPORT DESIGN MAINTENANCE RESEARCH Crew fatigue OPERATING METHODS I DESIGN I Design team Operators' advice Operators' requirements Operational standardsI Reserve fuel Minimum landings Loading standards Accident and defect analysis 7 raining Aircrew Ground crew orbiting at 3,000ft was equivalent to about too nautical miles innormal cruising flight. On the subject of accidents Mr. Rmve pointed out that a broadanalysis showed the preponderance to be during take-off and land- ing. As we progressed to increased speed and height of operationthere might then be a higher proportion of accidents in flight, but Mr. Rowe considered that the natural hazards of take-off and land-ing would always remain That economic operation must always be the final touchstone ofany fully established airline Mr. Kowe was convinced. The aircraft was the revenue-earner and if, because of its inherent qualities, itsdirect cost of operation was high, then no amount of administrative excellence would make operations economic The day-to-day prob-lem was the margin between revenue-earning potential and direct operational cost . ( The importance of maintenance in economic operation could notbe over-emphasized with a given type in which design could not be substantially altered, but maintenance could be economical withimproved facilities, and systematic organization of the work. The means of obtaining improved economy with the existing types ofaircraft were strictly limited, he said. The solution to the problem must be found in the new types of aircraft, and the main respon-sibility rested with the operator in specifying his requirements, and he must look eight or twelve years ahead As a first step in considering a new type of aircraft, weight perpassengei was the most significant single parameter in considering direct costs for a given stage distance. Cheap transport could onlybe obtained, he said, by a marked reduction in the all-up weight of aircraft per passenger. This was a more direct and simple methodthan increasing speed for improving economy, since it might not be possible to use the speed to the best advantage. It was clearlyof importance that speed should be usable, that is, that the increased frequencies implicit in the use of higher operating speeds in a givenroute system at an economic utilization could be generated without any pronounced decrease in load factor. For this reason high speedbecame increasingly difficult to use as stage distances decreased. Forecasting Traffic While everything rested on obtaining the right aircraft for thetask, and bearing in mind that it may take four to eight years to bring into operation a new design, the lecturer stated that it wasnecessary always to forecast traffic in the area as a whole and also over specific routes in regard to volume and frequency. It hudbeen suggested that traffic between two towns varied directly as a product of the population and inversely as the distance. It hadalso been concluded that the law was best represented by the square root of the product of the population and inversely as the distance.Mr. Rowe presumed that both referred to maximum demand if traffic had been steadily developed There were then two aspectsto the problem : the development of traffic, and catering for the full potential traffic. Referring once again to the development of new aircraft, Mr. Rowesaid that it was too expensive to develop aircraft and operate them at the same time. The operator was, however, an essential partnerin the process, and it would probably be best done conjointly, although each might look for financial suppqrt from nationalresources. He thought that the Americans were moving towards the same idea. The period of development should cover, he said,a full year of flying and two major overhauls of airframe and engines, that is, upwards of a thousand hours. Such developmentwould forestall any engineering troubles and provide the oppor- tunity of establishing economic maintenance processes and promotegood utilization, He noted that the Constellation took five years to develop before being used by civil operators. Mr. Rowe considered that the number of types of aircraft shouldbe reduced to the minimum consistent with service to the com- munity. The Americans at one stage, he said, operated practicallyall traffic with the D.C.3. The principle of minimum number of types allowed a common basic design for passenger and cargo carry-ing, common navigational aids, and the use of the same power plants in different types. The- whole problem of economic operation was,he said, inextricably linked with decisions of I.C.A.O. and I.A.T.A., and" any questions raised were of wide national significance.
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